Santo Domingo.- The national weightlifting team begins its concentration this Monday in Jarabacoa, starting the final stage of preparation for the Senior Pan American Championship, which will take place in Panama City. The delegation, led by the outstanding Yudelina Mejía, world medalist in Forde (Norway) 2025, will settle in the Jardines de la Montaña vacation complex. There, for a month, the athletes will intensify their training with a view to their upcoming international challenges. Willian Ozuna, president of the Dominican Weightlifting Federation, reported that, in addition to focusing on the Pan American Senior Championships, the concentration in Jarabacoa will serve to strengthen the preparation for the Central American and Caribbean Sports Games Santo Domingo 2026. The sports leader also announced that the Dominican Republic will compete in the continental championship with athletes. This event will take place from April 27 to May 1. The concentration, which begins this Monday, will bring together eighteen athletes from both genders. The technical team will be headed by Héctor Domínguez, accompanied by Moreno Martínez, Edward Josep, the Colombian Oswaldo Pinilla and the Venezuelan Luis Silva. Crislibel Mota will be in charge of physiotherapy and Juan Pérez, as a masseur. In the women’s pre-selection, along with Yudelina (86 kg), are Cándida Vásquez and Dahiana Ortiz (48 kg), Rosalba Florián (53 kg), Alicia Félix (58 kg), Nathalia Novas (63 kg), Daiana Serrano (77 kg), Fransheska Matías (69 kg), the Tokyo 2020 Olympic medalist Crismery Santana and Verónica Saladín (+86 kg). The men’s team will be made up of Luis García, Manuel Reyes, Francisco Tintín, Julio Cedeño, Daury Vargas and Yendry Benítez, who will compete in the 60, 65, 71, 79 and 94 kg categories, respectively. In addition, super heavyweights Ezequiel Germán and Luis Coca (+110 kg) complete the selection.
The presence in this concentration and the participation in the Pan American Games will be training events for our athletes with a view to the Central American Games, events to which we will be able to attend thanks to the timely delivery of the resources provided by the Ministry of Sports and by its minister Kelvin Cruz.
Willian Ozuna
